Rent Or Buy A Home? This Map Has The Answer

To help make the decision simpler, RealtyTrac crunched the numbers and created an interactive map of the rent/buy fault lines across America,

Baltimore has the most advantageous market in the U.S. for home buyers, with a net difference of $1,160 between renting and buying. Rents there average $1,599, but the average monthly mortgage payment is just $439, based on a median sales price of $85,000.

New York City was found to be the least friendly to buyers with a net difference of $2,729 this time in favor of renters. The average rent New Yorkers pay a month is $1,852, compared with an average mortgage of $4,581 a month, according to RealtyTrac. But the reality is more complicated than that. Despite skyscraper-high prices, buyers actually have the edge in Manhattan. As for the other four boroughs: Residents of Brooklyn and the Bronx are slightly better off buying, whereas Queens and Staten Island are more favorable to renters.

The most expensive place to rent in the country? Honolulu, with an average monthly rent of $2,862. The cheapest? Montgomery County, Ark., with an average monthly rent of $699.

The cheapest place to buy a home? Washington County, Miss., with an average mortgage of just $217 a month and a median sales price of $42,000. Not surprisingly the most expensive real estate is San Francisco, where the average home mortgage is $4,599, with a median home value of $890,500.

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3 thoughts on “Rent Or Buy A Home? This Map Has The Answer”

"Baltimore has the most advantageous market in the U.S. for home buyers, with a net difference of $1,160 between renting and buying."
Sorry, that's not what determines whether it's advantageous or not. There are a lot of other factors like cost – and my guess is that Baltimore is pricey. Generally it will cost more to rent because your landlord will have to make a profit to make it worthwhile to rent the property. You may pay less for a mortgage, but you will also be responsible for insurance, repairs, plumbing, etc. that a renter isn't responsible for. You will also probably buy a home that is better quality for the money than what you'd find for rent.